Tiri Budd, from Earlswood, near Chepstow, completed the Chillington Hall half marathon on Saturday 19th May in sunny conditions.

The ultimate goal was to complete a half marathon in memory of her Uncle Mickey who lived with spina bifida and spent most his life in a wheelchair. Mickey never let this get in the way of his goals and went to the 1984 Paralympics in the wheelchair marathon and more recently the 2008 Beijing Paralympics for archery. He travelled all over the world setting records and competed in the London Marathon. Unfortunately Mickey died just before Christmas 2017 from cancer.

“He was, and still is, a true inspiration to me and the reason why I ran this half marathon to raise money for the Whizz-Kids charity,” Tiri said.

“Whizz-Kids is a charity that was very close to his heart. Its mission is to transform the lives of disabled children by providing the equipment, support and life skills they need, when they need them – giving them the chance to develop to their full potential.”

The race was run on the grounds of Chillington Hall taking in two loops of the lake and mainly on forest tracks. “I had to run through a few nettles and many divots so my ankles and feet took a good battering,”?Tiri added. “But nevertheless, it was a beautiful setting and the weather was great, though extremely hot which added to the challenge”.

Support on the day was provided by her mum and dad who got up early on the day for transport duties. During the race they cheered her on and inspired her to pick up the pace, “I didn’t want to look tired because mum had the camera out”.

Tiri has always been sporty but didn’t consider herself to be a runner and wanted to learn to enjoy it. She decided to join the C25k course run by Chepstow Harriers to become a more confident runner whilst back home completing her placement year for university. After completing the course she continued training with the Harriers at their 45 minute mixed paced sessions and is now a member.

So far Tiri has raised over £700 for the charity and has a Just Giving page set up for donations at www.justgiving.com/fundraising/tiri-budd

“Massive thank you to the Chepstow Harriers who have been so helpful and welcoming,” she said. “I really appreciate it and a special mention to Julia Bajjada, Mark Nicol, Hamish Hughson and Lisa Gribben who have either stuck with me on the long runs in training or have been so supportive of my challenge and learning to become more confident in my running ability”.